Who and What are the Mystics

I had lots of misconceptions about the term "mystic" when I first heard it. This episode explores definitions and my own humble observations about what it means to be a mystic, interlaced with some thoughts of others on the journey.

Resources for further exploration:

• The Naked Now: Learning to See as the Mystics See by Richard Rohr (this was my inaugural book that I read)
• James Finley’s podcast Turning to the Mystics. Each season provides a focus on a different mystic, with opportunities for reflection and meditation. I recommend beginning with this episode that gives a lovely overview to Finley’s perspective of what mysticism means: https://cac.org/podcasts/turning-to-thomas-merton/
• The Center for Action and Contemplation has a wealth of resources and courses on these topics: https://cac.org/about/what-we-do/
• A list of people, both historical and current, that can be considered mystics include (but is not limited to):
• Historical Christian mystics: St. John of the Cross, Teresa of Avila, Margery Kempe, Hildegard of Bingen, Julian of Norwich, Francis of Assisi, Brother Lawrence, Rainer Maria Rilke.
• Modern Christian mystics: Thomas Merton, James Finley, Richard Rohr, Cynthia Bourgeault, Henri Nouwen, Kathleen Norris. I’d also put Parker J. Palmer and Gerald G. May in this vein.
• A more complete list can be found here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Christian_mystics. Most of these mystics have books or original writings that can be explored.
• The Mystics Would Like a Word: Six Women Who Met God and Found a Spirituality for Today by Shannon K. Evans has just released. I’m only a few chapters in, but so far it’s a wonderful read.
• Writings by Mirabai Starr, including translations of older mystic writings: https://mirabaistarr.com/books/

• Previous posts of mine related to mystical or contemplative approaches on my blog: danielleklafter.com